Crossbeams Cowl

 Two-colour brioche is a marvellous technique. It creates a lovely, squishy texture that is really comforable to wear. Plus, it can be used to create quite intricate geometric patterns. 

For this cowl a criss-cross pattern is used, a stitch that combines an increase and a decrease.  Since it is brioche, both sides will look nice.  

The whole piece is knitted flat and the end product will look seamless. This means that it starts with a provisional cast-on and is finished by grafting in two-colour brioche. 

The pattern PDF is available via

• Ravelry
• Lovecrafts 
• Payhip

This pattern PDF is  pages long and contains

• row-by-row pattern instructions
• a chart of a pattern repeat
• photo tutorials for the techniques you need for this piece:
• brk4dec4inc
• provisional cast on (with crochet hook and scrap yarn)
• grafting in two-colour brioche

To knit this cowl (in double length, i.e. to fit twice around your neck) you will need the following materials

• a total of 180 grams  (about 730 metres) of fingering weight yarn – in two colours, i.e. 90 grams of each color; I used Malabrigo sock yarn (merino) 
• 3.5 mm knitting needles – circulars or other needles with two points
• a cable needle
• crochet hook and scrap yarn
• a tapestry needle for grafting and weaving in ends

Jasmin

During the last months my knitting inspiration was quite low. All bigger project didn't seem appealing to me, so I started (again) playing around with colorful cotton and small motifs. And here's what I came up with. A knitting pattern for a hexagonal potholder with a flower motif.  It starts with a provisional CO, is knitted in short row wedges and finished with grafting in garter stitch.

Since this is an intarsia project with two colours that also uses short rows, it can be quite fiddly. It is NOT a beginner pattern.

The pattern is available at

• Ravelry
• Loveknitting / Lovecrafts 
• Payhip

The pattern PDF is 11 pages long and contains

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting this piece – including five photos of the different stages
• a brief explanation on how to adapt the pattern for a version with different petal colours (see photo below)
• pattern charts for one wedge of the original pattern and the variation
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques: 
• provisional CO with a crochet hook and how to undo it, grafting in garter stitch, 
• short rows with wrap and turn and picking up the wraps, intarsia knitting, weaving in yarn while carrying it (backwards and forwards)
• step-by-step explanations with photos of undoing the provisional CO in this pattern (i.e. catching stitches in different colours), grafting with colour changes

To knit one of these potholders/coasters you need the following materials:

• Cotton yarn in two colors – I knitted these potholders in Aran and in Thread weight yarn
• in Aran weight I used a total of 65 meters (about 30 meters of C1 and 35 meters of C2
• in Thread weight a total of 50 meters (also a bit more for C2 than for C1)
• knitting needles – straight or circulars: I used 3.5mm needles for Aran weight yarn,  i.e. smaller than the yarn usually requires because I wanted a firm texture. 
• scrap yarn and a crochet hook (about 3mm) for the provisional CO
• two tapestry needles for grafting and to weave in ends

Knitted in Aran weight yarn the pieces measured between 22 and 25 cm in diameter.